几种固氮菌突变种固氮酶的特性及晶体生长

一，缺失nifZ的棕色固氮菌突变种钼铁蛋白的晶体生长的研究进展 在一定的结晶条件下，缺失nifZ的棕色固氮菌突变种钼铁蛋白将从溶液中结晶出深棕色的短斜四棱柱晶体。PEG 8000、MgCl2、NaCl、Tris的浓度及缓冲液的pH对该蛋白的结晶及晶体生长影响的系统研究表明，它们的浓度和pH较低时，不出晶体;当pH高于8.0，随着前三种化合物浓度的逐渐提高，便在一周内出现大量小品体;再提高浓度后，便延长结晶时问但出质好、数少而个大的晶体;然后晶体随浓度的提高而又变小、变多、甚至晶质变差，直至不再出晶体。影响晶体生长的各因子的最适浓度随其它条件的改变而有所不同。当缓冲液的pH为8.2而PEG 8000，MgCl’、NaCI、蛋白质和Tris的浓度分别为1.86%、300 mmol/L、400 mmoUL、4.64g/L、53 mmo/L时，首次发现在一滴悬滴结晶液中只有一颗较大的优质晶体（最大两边线度均为0.16mm）。 二，从分别含Mn和Cr的培养基中生长的固氮菌突变种UW3中纯化的固氮酶的特性和结晶 缺失nifH基因的棕色固氮菌突变种UW3，在有钼环境中不能固氮生长，但能在无钼而含MnS01或Na2Cr01的无氮培养基中固氮生长。分别经超声破碎、加热除去部分杂蛋白、离子交换柱层析和Sephacryl S-200或S-300柱层析的分离纯化，分别得到二种固氮酶组分l蛋白。金属元素测定表明，这两种蛋白除含铁元素外还分别含有锰和铬元素。它们的吸收光谱、CD和AR谱互不完全相同，并都与OP-MoFe蛋白存在较大差异。含Mn固氮酶也能还原C2H2、质子和N2，对它们的还原的比活性都分别约为MoFe蛋白活性的50%。初步结果表明，这一突变种在这两种培养条件下都可能已表达了不同于已发现的三种固氮酶的新固氮酶组分l蛋白-MoFe、VFe和FeFe蛋白，分别为含Mn或Cr的固氮酶组分1蛋白，分别被称为uw3，-MnFe蛋白和UW3-CrFe蛋白。通过对PEG 8000、MgCI2、NaCI和缓冲液的种类和浓度等结晶条件的大量优化组合实验，首次获得uw3-MnFe蛋白和UW3-CrFe蛋白的的晶体。最大晶体为21.4×14.3×2.1μm。

Culture Condition Dependent Changes Of 4-Thiouridine In The Transfer-Rna Of Azotobacter-Vinelandii

4..T~iouridine, a thionucleoside present in the transfer RNA of the free living, nitrogen-fixing ?actenu~ Azotobacter »inelandii shows a culture condition dependent change. When thebacterium IS grown Intheabsen~e ofanyfixed nit~ogen thetRNA contains 4-thiouridine to theextent of 45% of the total sulphur Incorporated. This gets reduced to 5%when the bacterium is grown in the presen~e of.e~ces~ ofamm~nium salt.Instead, a new thionucleoside which appears to be a derivative of 4-thloundlne IS found In the tRNA to the extent of 28%of the total sulphur incorporated.

Vipp1 deletion mutant of Synechocystis: A connection between bacterial phage shock and thylakoid biogenesis?

Plant chloroplasts originated from an endosymbiotic event by which an ancestor of contemporary cyanobacteria was engulfed by an early eukaryotic cell and then transformed into an organelle. Oxygenic photosynthesis is the specific feature of cyanobacteria and chloroplasts, and the photosynthetic machinery resides in an internal membrane system, the thylakoids. The origin and genesis of thylakoid membranes, which are essential for oxygenic photosynthesis, are still an enigma. Vipp1 (vesicle-inducing protein in plastids 1) is a protein located in both the inner envelope and the thylakoids of Pisum sativum and Arabidopsis thaliana. In Arabidopsis disruption of the VIPP1 gene severely affects the plant's ability to form properly structured thylakoids and as a consequence to carry out photosynthesis. In contrast, Vipp1 in Synechocystis appears to be located exclusively in the plasma membrane. Yet, as in higher plants, disruption of the VIPP1 gene locus leads to the complete loss of thylakoid formation. So far VIPP1 genes are found only in organisms carrying out oxygenic photosynthesis. They share sequence homology with a subunit encoded by the bacterial phage shock operon (PspA) but differ from PspA by a C-terminal extension of about 30 amino acids. In two cyanobacteria, Synechocystis and Anabaena, both a VIPP1 and a pspA gene are present, and phylogenetic analysis indicates that VIPP1 originated from a gene duplication of the latter and thereafter acquired its new function. It also appears that the C-terminal extension that discriminates VIPP1 proteins from PspA is important for its function in thylakoid formation.

Site-directed mutagenesis of Azotobacter vinelandii ferredoxin I: cysteine ligation of the [4Fe-4S] cluster with protein rearrangement is preferred over serine ligation.

The [4Fe-4S] cluster of Azotobacter vinelandii ferredoxin I receives three of its four ligands from a Cys-Xaa-Xaa-Cys-Xaa-Xaa-Cys sequence at positions 39-45 while the fourth ligand, Cys20, is provided by a distal portion of the sequence. Previously we reported that the site-directed mutation of Cys20 to Ala (C20A protein) resulted in the formation of a new [4Fe-4S] cluster that obtained its fourth ligand from Cys24, a free cysteine in the native structure. That ligand exchange required significant protein rearrangement. Here we report the conversion of Cys20 to Ser (C20S protein), which gives the protein the opportunity either to retain the native structure and use the Ser20 O gamma as a ligand or to rearrange and use Cys24. X-ray crystallography demonstrates that the cluster does not use the Ser20 O gamma as a ligand; rather it rearranges to use Cys24. In the C20S protein the [4Fe-4S] cluster has altered stability and redox properties relative to either C20A or the native protein.

Presence of 2-methylthioribosyl-trans-zeatin in Azotobacter vinelandii tRNA.

Hydroxylated cytokinin, 2-methylthio-N6-(4-hydroxy-3-methylbut-2-enyl) adenosine, was found in the tRNA of Azotobacter vinelandii. This cytokinin had the trans configuration, unlike the cis configuration reported for that from other bacteria. Culture-condition-dependent changes in the content of this thiocytokinin and a few other thionucleosides in the tRNA of this bacterium have been observed.

固氮菌突变种DJ35钼铁蛋白和UW3细菌铁蛋白的纯化、特性、晶体生长及鉴定

一、棕色固氮菌突变种DJ35固氮酶钼铁蛋白的纯化、体外重组及结晶研究 　　棕色固氮菌(Azotobacter vinelandii Lipmann)突变种DJ35的菌体破碎后，所得的未经加热的粗提物经DEAE Cellulose 52柱层析后得到部分纯的钼铁蛋白（ΔnifE Av1）和铁蛋白(Av2)。部分纯的ΔnifE Av1再经Sephacryl S-300和Q-Sepharose Fast Flow柱层析进一步纯化，便首次得到SDS凝胶电泳检测为基本纯的ΔnifE Av1。SDS-PAGE及Western blotting的结果表明，ΔnifE Av1具有与野生型棕色固氮菌钼铁蛋白(OP Av1)相同的亚基种类和组成（α2β2）。质子还原活性测定表明，在与Av2进行活性互补时ΔnifE Av1不具有明显的质子还原活性，而与从OP Av1抽提出的FeMoco抽提液保温后便可与Av2实现活性互补。这表明，ΔnifE Av1是一种缺失FeMoco的钼铁蛋白。 　　将ΔnifE Av1用过量的邻菲啰啉(o-phenanthroline)厌氧处理并经Sephadex G-25柱层析分离后，便得到部分丢失Fe的ΔnifE Av1©。在同时存在Av2和MgATP发生系统的条件下，ΔnifE Av1©, 而不是处理前的ΔnifE Av1，可为由KMnO4或Na2CrO4、高柠檬酸铁、Na2S、Na2S2O4 和二硫苏糖醇组成的含Mn或含Cr重组液(RS-Mn或RS-Cr)显著激活，但在缺少MgATP或Av2的条件下，RS-Mn和RS-Cr则不能激活ΔnifE Av1©。这就表明，RS-Mn和RS-Cr对ΔnifE Av1©的激活都需要邻菲啰啉的预处理及Av2和MgATP的同时存在。从分别缺失nifZ和nifB点突变的固氮菌突变种DJ194和UW45中纯化得到的钼铁蛋白，ΔnifZ Av1和NifB- Av1，经邻菲啰啉厌氧处理并经Sephadex G-25柱层析分离后，也分别得到部分丢失Fe的ΔnifZ Av1©和NifB- Av1©。与ΔnifE Av1©一样，这两种蛋白在Av2和MgATP同时存在时也可被RS-Cr和含Mo重组液（RS-Mo）明显激活。 　　为获得可供X-射线衍射的ΔnifE Av1的大单晶，对组成蛋白质沉淀剂的各种化合物的种类和浓度、缓冲液的pH值、结晶方法及蛋白样品的批次、浓度等结晶条件进行了大量优化研究。首次获得了ΔnifE Av1的深棕色短斜四棱柱晶体，并对其蛋白组成进行了鉴定。 二、铬铁蛋白中残存的棕色固氮菌细菌铁蛋白的晶体生长及鉴定 　　从无钼、无氨而含铬的固氮培养基中生长的棕色固氮菌突变种UW3中纯化得到了部分纯的CrFe蛋白。在试图培养CrFe蛋白大晶体时发现，棕色晶体和砖红色晶体可同时或单独出现。SDS-和厌氧天然-PAGE皆表明，棕色晶体主要由与Av1类似大小的亚基（~60 kD）组成，而砖红色晶体则主要由~20 kD亚基组成。Western-blotting表明只有~60 kD亚基可与OP Av1的抗体发生反应，而~20 kD亚基则无这种反应。在部分纯的CrFe蛋白中，~20 kD的蛋白含量远低于~60 kD蛋白的含量，表明由这种小亚基组成的蛋白只是CrFe蛋白中的一种污染蛋白。用3,5-二氨基苯甲酸染色的天然电泳表明，形成砖红色和棕色晶体的蛋白是迁移率不同的两种含铁蛋白。质谱分析表明，该晶体蛋白为棕色固氮菌的细菌铁蛋白（AvBF）。分辨率为2.34 Å的X-射线衍射结果也表明，砖红色晶体属于H3空间群，晶胞参数为a = 124.965 Å, b= 124.965 Å 和 c = 287.406 Å。首次完成的结构解析也表明，这种砖红色晶体确为24聚体的AvBF。 关键词：棕色固氮菌突变种DJ35和UW3; ΔnifE Av1; 铬铁蛋白; 细菌铁蛋白; 纯化和特性; 体外激活组装; 晶体生长及组成鉴定

Azotobacter genomes: the genome of Azotobacter chroococcum NCIMB 8003 (ATCC 4412)

The genome of the soil-dwelling heterotrophic N2-fixing Gram-negative bacterium Azotobacter chroococcum NCIMB 8003 (ATCC 4412) (Ac-8003) has been determined. It consists of 7 circular replicons totalling 5,192,291 bp comprising a circular chromosome of 4,591,803 bp and six plasmids pAcX50a, b, c, d, e, f of 10,435 bp, 13,852, 62,783, 69,713, 132,724, and 311,724 bp respectively. The chromosome has a G+C content of 66.27% and the six plasmids have G+C contents of 58.1, 55.3, 56.7, 59.2, 61.9, and 62.6% respectively. The methylome has also been determined and 5 methylation motifs have been identified. The genome also contains a very high number of transposase/inactivated transposase genes from at least 12 of the 17 recognised insertion sequence families. The Ac-8003 genome has been compared with that of Azotobacter vinelandii ATCC BAA-1303 (Av-DJ), a derivative of strain O, the only other member of the Azotobacteraceae determined so far which has a single chromosome of 5,365,318 bp and no plasmids. The chromosomes show significant stretches of synteny throughout but also reveal a history of many deletion/insertion events. The Ac-8003 genome encodes 4628 predicted protein-encoding genes of which 568 (12.2%) are plasmid borne. 3048 (65%) of these show > 85% identity to the 5050 protein-encoding genes identified in Av-DJ, and of these 99 are plasmid-borne. The core biosynthetic and metabolic pathways and macromolecular architectures and machineries of these organisms appear largely conserved including genes for CO-dehydrogenase, formate dehydrogenase and a soluble NiFe-hydrogenase. The genetic bases for many of the detailed phenotypic differences reported for these organisms have also been identified. Also many other potential phenotypic differences have been uncovered. Properties endowed by the plasmids are described including the presence of an entire aerobic corrin synthesis pathway in pAcX50f and the presence of genes for retro-conjugation in pAcX50c. All these findings are related to the potentially different environmental niches from which these organisms were isolated and to emerging theories about how microbes contribute to their communities.

In Azotobacter vinelandii, the E1 subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex binds fpr promoter region DNA and ferredoxin I

In Azotobacter vinelandii, deletion of the fdxA gene that encodes a well characterized seven-iron ferredoxin (FdI) is known to lead to overexpression of the FdI redox partner, NADPH:ferredoxin reductase (FPR). Previous studies have established that this is an oxidative stress response in which the fpr gene is transcriptionally activated to the same extent in response to either addition of the superoxide propagator paraquat to the cells or to fdxA deletion. In both cases, the activation occurs through a specific DNA sequence located upstream of the fpr gene. Here, we report the identification of the A. vinelandii protein that binds specifically to the paraquat activatable fpr promoter region as the E1 subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHE1), a central enzyme in aerobic respiration. Sequence analysis shows that PDHE1, which was not previously suspected to be a DNA-binding protein, has a helix–turn–helix motif. The data presented here further show that FdI binds specifically to the DNA-bound PDHE1.

Ammonium ions prevent methylation of uridine to ribothymidine in Azotobacter vinelandii tRNA

It was shown that tRNA from Azotobacter vinelandii grown in the presence of ammonium chloride lacks ribothymidine while that grown in the absence of the ammonium salt contains this modified nucleoside. [32P]-Labelled tRNA from this organism grown in a medium containing the ammonium salt was digested with RNase T1 and the pseudouridinecontaining tetranucleotide, common to all tRNAs was isolated and analysed for the nucleoside replacing the ribothymidine. It was found to be uridine. Cells previously labelled with [32P]- phosphate in the ammonium salt medium were washed and incubated in the ammonium saltfree medium to test whether ribothymidine would be formed upon removal of the ammoniumions. Methylation of the uridine did not take place.